Words of Wisdom & Encouragement
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Anxiety doesn’t help…
Anxiety doesn’t help at all. Our Merciful Lord will listen to your prayers.
–Saint Pio (1887-1968)
The devil causes…
If certain thoughts bother you, it is devil who causes you to worry, and not God, Who, being the spirit of peace, grants you tranquility.
— Saint Pio (1887-1968)
The divine will…
The divine will is a balm which heals every wound. We should caress it and love it in adversity as well as in prosperity.
–Saint Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
The will of God…
Be resigned to the will of God in all things; make frequent acts of submission; regard with the eye of faith all interior and exterior troubles as coming from God; do not think of the future – that is, of its misfortunes, its trials, and other occurrences which the imagination may conjure up, but dispel them in the will of God.
–Saint Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
The will of God…
As soon as we know the will of God, we ought without delay to follow it.
–Saint Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
Serve the Lord…
Spare the faith…
Prayer is the…
Prayer is the deliberate and persevering action of the soul. It is true and enduring, and full of grace. Prayer fastens the soul to God and makes it one with God’s will.
–Saint Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)
Desire that God…
Those in the highest state of religious experience desire nothing, except that God may be glorified in them by the accomplishment of His holy will.
–François Fénèlon (1651-1715)
Will what God…
To will everything that God wills, and to will it always, in all circumstances and without reservations: that is the kingdom of God which is entirely within.
–François Fénèlon (1651-1715)
Be patient and…
Be patient in tribulation, watchful in prayer, strenuous in labors, modest in speech, grave in manners, and grateful for benefits, because for all these things God has prepared for you an eternal kingdom.
–Saint Francis of Assisi (1181 – 1226)
Greedy for money…
We should have no more use or regard for money in any of its forms than we have for dust. Those who think it is worth more, or who are greedy for it, expose themselves to the danger of being deceived by the Devil.
–Saint Francis of Assisi (1181–1226)
Heaven and hell…
Hell is full of the talented, but Heaven, of the energetic.
–Saint Jane Frances de Chantal (1572-1641)
Perform faithfully…
Perform faithfully what God requires of you each moment, and leave the thought of everything else to Him. I assure you that to live in this way will bring you great peace.
–Saint Jane Frances de Chantal (1572-1641)
Carefully ponder….
We should not trust every word we hear or every feeling in our hearts; rather, we should bring such matters before God and carefully ponder them at our leisure.
–Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471)
Consult someone who…
Instead of following your own notions, consult someone who is wise and conscientious, and seek to be guided by one who is better than you.
–Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471)
True riches are…
The only true riches are those that make us rich in virtue. Therefore, if you want to be rich, beloved, love true riches. If you aspire to the heights of real honor, strive to reach the kingdom of Heaven. If you value rank and renown, hasten to be enrolled in the heavenly court of the Angels.
–Saint Gregory the Great (c. 540-604)
Willingly embracing the Cross and…
In uniting yourself to God’s will, you take on new life and gather great courage, willingly embracing the cross and kissing His hand even when it chastises you, a hand that reaches out to you in love and has no other intention but your greater spiritual well-being.
–Saint Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
Cultivate one desire…
Even the holiest desires, whether they refer to the salvation of souls or the needs of the Church, which are very great, should be consumed in the fire of the love of God, whence they proceed, and await God’s time for their fulfilment. Meanwhile cultivate one only desire, the most perfect of all; that is, to please God more and more, and to nourish yourself with His will.
–Saint Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
Lose the wealth…
Our greatest gain is to lose the wealth that is of such brief duration and, by comparison with eternal things, of such little worth; yet we get upset about it and our gain turns to loss.
–Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Beginner in prayer…
All that the beginner in prayer has to do — and you must not forget this, for it is very important — is to labor and be resolute and prepare himself with all possible diligence to bring his will into conformity with the will of God. As I shall say later, you may be quite sure that this comprises the very greatest perfection which can be attained on the spiritual road.
–Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Yearning for God…
It is part of our human nature to desire God, and it is part of God’s nature to desire us. We can never stop yearning for God until we are possessed by God in the fulness of love.
–Saint Julian of Norwich (1342–1416)
To spend time in prayer…
To spend much time in prayer is to knock with a persistent and holy fervor at the door of the One whom we seek. This task is generally accomplished more through sighs than words, more through weeping than speech.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)
The Catholic Church…
Fly to the Catholic Church! Adhere to the only faith which continues to exist from the beginning, that faith which was preached by Paul and is upheld by the Chair of Peter.
–Saint Hippolytus (170-236)
Preaching of the Church…
The preaching of the Church truly continues without change and is everywhere the same. It has the testimony of the Prophets and Apostles and all their disciples.
–Saint Irenaeus of Lyons (late 2nd century)
Believe undoubtedly…
Having God, fear nothing, but cast all of your care upon Him, and He will take care of you. Believe undoubtingly, and God will help you according to His mercy.
–Saint Barsanuphius the Great (Sixth Century)
Dismiss all anger…
Dismiss all anger and look into yourself a little. Remember that he of whom you are speaking is your brother, and, as he is in the way of salvation, God can make him a Saint, in spite of his present weakness.
–Saint Thomas of Villanova (1488-1555)
No will but God’s will…
If a man truly loves God, and has no will but to do God’s will, the whole force of the river Rhine may run at him, and will not disturb him nor break his peace. If we find outward things a danger and disturbance, it comes from our appropriating to ourselves what is God’s.
–Johannes Tauler (c. 1300-1361)
The traveler sees…
The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.
–GK Chesterton (1874-1936)
We know truth…
We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart.
–Blaise Pascal (1623 – 1662)
Confidence in God…
My confidence is placed in God who does not need our help for accomplishing his designs. Our single endeavor should be to give ourselves to the work and to be faithful to him, and not to spoil his work by our shortcomings.
–-Saint Isaac Jogues (1607-1646)
Trust God…
How good it is to trust God! Turn to Him often, as children look to their father and mother in their needs.
–Saint Louise de Marrilac (1591-1660)
Freedom of heart…
I loved freedom of heart very much, and worked and am working to achieve it fully. It does the soul so much good that every effort is nothing compared with this free condition of the heart.
–Saint Genoveva Torres Morales (1870-1956)
Do the will of God…
Intimacy with the Lord is not a matter of physical kinship; rather, it is achieved by cheerful readiness to do the will of God.
–Saint Basil the Great (329-379)
To think of Jesus…
It is sweet to think of Jesus; but it is sweeter to do His will.
–Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified (1846-1878)
Often repeated ‘Yes’…
Let us establish a permanent Spring season in our heart through ‘yes’ often repeated to all of God’s permissions and wills.
–Saint Francesca Salesia Aviat (1844-1914)
Being at home in the world…
The entirely comfortable being-at-home in the world, the satiety of pleasures that it offers, the demand for these pleasures and the matter-of-course consent to these demands – all of this that human nature considers bright daily life – all of this is darkness in God’s eyes and incompatible with the divine light. It has to be totally uprooted if room for God is to be made in the soul.
–Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (1891-1942)
All earthly things are fleeting…
How fleeting all earthly things are, and everything that appears great disappears like smoke, and does not give the soul freedom, but weariness. Happy the soul that understands these things and with only one foot touches the earth.
— Saint Faustina (1905-1938)
Always fleeting pleasures…
Foolish is he who follows the pleasures of this world, because these are always fleeting and bring much pain. The only true pleasure is that which comes to us through faith.
–Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925)
Finding God…
Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.
— Pedro Arrupe (1907-1991)
The spiritual life…
The spiritual life consists in two things—mortification and the love of God.
–Blessed Matt Talbot (1856-1925)
The human soul…
The human soul is a barren soil in in which useless and noxious herbs constantly spring up. We must practice being holy and do penance always.
–Blessed Matt Talbot (1856-1925)
Jesus Christ is…
Jesus Christ is at once the beginning, the way and the immortal end which we must strive to gain, but above all in Holy Communion. He is the Life of our souls.
–Blessed Matt Talbot (1856-1925)
God will help…
Have hope and firm faith in God, for he will help you in everything. Pray to him, humble yourself under his great power, because, without a doubt, as he has given you this charge, so he will give you also the strength to be able to carry it out.
–Saint Angela Merici (1474-1540)
Remain called by God and persevere…
Strive with all your might to remain as you are called by God and to seek and desire all the ways and means necessary to persevere and make progress to the very end.
–Saint Angela Merici (1474-1540)
Gain by trials…
We gain more in a single day by trials that come to us from God and our neighbor than we would in ten years of penance and other exercises that we take up ourselves.
–Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
The faults of others…
Beware of becoming vexed or impatient at the faults of others; for it would be folly, when you see a man falling into a ditch, to throw yourself into another for no purpose.
–Saint Bonaventure (1221-1274)
Prayer despite dryness…
A soul should be faithful to prayer despite torments, dryness, and temptations; because oftentimes the realization of God’s great plans depends mainly on such prayer. If we do not persevere in such prayer, we frustrate what the Lord wanted to do through us or within us. Let every soul remember these words: ‘And being in anguish, He prayed longer.‘ (Lk 22:44)
–Saint Faustina (1905-1938)
If temptation comes…
If temptation comes upon you in the place where you are living, do not to abandon the place where temptation came upon you; otherwise, no matter where you go, you will be confronted there by that from which you are fleeing. So wait patiently until the temptation is past so that there be no scandal attached to your withdrawal and that your departure does not occasion any offense to those who are living in the place.
–The Desert Fathers (and Mothers)
An adverse wind…
They who set out to sail unfurl the sails at first when they encounter a favorable wind but then undo it when an adverse wind comes at them; the sailors do not discharge the ship because the wind is against them. They wait quietly for a while or wrestle with the storm, then they sail on again. So it is with us; when an adverse wind is against us, let us complete our voyage without fear, having unfurled the cross instead of a sail.
–Saint Synkletike (a Desert Mother) (d. 350)
Humility is to…
Humility is to the various virtues what the chain is to the Rosary; take away the chain and the beads are scattered, remove humility and all virtues vanish.
–Saint John Vianney (1786-1859)
Need for action…
There is no need of words only, for there are many words in people nowadays, but there is need for action.
–The Desert Fathers (and Mothers)
Go elsewhere…
If a monk sets himself to do good but lacks the strength to do it in the place where he is, let him not think that if he were to go elsewhere, he would have the strength to accomplish it.
–The Desert Fathers (and Mothers)
The Blessed Sacrament…
The Blessed Sacrament is the first and supreme object of our worship. We must preserve in the depths of our hearts a constant and uninterrupted, profound adoration of this precious pledge of Divine Love.”
–Saint Mary Euphrasia Pelletier (1796-1868)
Stretches of darkness…
If anyone tells you that the life of prayer is one uninterrupted experience of being happy with Jesus, do not follow him. He is not a safe guide. Those who follow the Lamb know that there are stretches of darkness and loneliness and perplexity along the way, and they know that Jesus himself went that way.
–Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998)
Turning away from impurity…
Be extremely prompt in turning away from all that leads and lures to impurity, for this evil… by small beginnings, progresses to great mischief. It is always easier to avoid than to cure this.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Never before God…
So you should never dare to think or imagine anything before the Lord your God that you would blush to be heard or seen in before men, since your respect for God should be even greater than for them.
–Saint Albert the Great (c. 1206-1280)
Plan your children’s future…
It is only natural to want to plan your children’s future for them and to presume that you know best what they should do. But this is not the right approach. It will only make your children angry. You have to leave them in complete freedom and trust that they will listen to God in responding to whatever vocation He gives them.
–Saint Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
Practice every virtue…
Therefore, be constant in practicing every virtue, and especially in imitating the patience of our dear Jesus, for this is the summit of pure love. Live in such a way that all may know that you bear outwardly as well as inwardly the image of Christ crucified, the model of all gentleness and mercy. For if a man is united inwardly with the Son of the living God, he also bears his likeness outwardly by his continual practice of heroic goodness, and especially through a patience reinforced by courage, which does not complain either secretly or in public. Conceal yourselves in Jesus crucified, and hope for nothing except that all men be thoroughly converted to his will.
–Saint Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
End and means…
One must be firm and unchanging with regard to the end but gentle and humble as to the means.
–Saint Vincent de Paul (1581-1660)
Continual practice…
To take up the cross of Christ is no great action done once for all; it consists in the continual practice of small duties which are distasteful to us.
–Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
We cultivate for Christ…
We cultivate a very small field for Christ, but we love it, knowing that God does not require great achievements but a heart that holds back nothing for self.
–Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne (1769-1852)
The smallest things…
The smallest things become great when God requires them of us; they are small only in themselves; they are always great when they are done for God, and when they serve to unite us with Him eternally.
–François Fénelon (1651-1715)
Pray to God…
The more you pray to God in times of sorrow, the sooner you will feel His sweet consolation.
–Saint Anthony of Optina (1795-1865)
Grace of God…
Bear in mind that one who is able to restrain himself or to do any other good thing does not do it by virtue of his own strength: it is the grace of God that empowers the person.
–The Desert Fathers (and Mothers)
Possess what God…
Many have indiscriminately afflicted their flesh and have come away empty, with nothing accomplished. Our mouth stinks from fasting; we have learned the Scriptures by heart; we have perfected [our knowledge of the Psalms of] David, and yet we do not possess what God is looking for, that is, fear, love, and humility.
–The Desert Fathers (and Mothers)
Physical sickness…
Do not be discouraged if physical sickness comes upon you. Who are you to take offense if your Lord-and-master wishes you to be afflicted in your body? Does he not care for you in every way? Could you live without him? Resign yourself and beseech God to grant you what is appropriate, that is, according to his will.
–The Desert Fathers (and Mothers)
Stop scowling at the sins…
We should all stop scowling at the sins of other people. Rather, we should consider that we may be worse spiritually than they are and should say, `Lord, if You had not helped me, I should have done worse.’
–Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)
Intentional discipleship…
Intentional discipleship demands authentic prayer:
- sit at the feet of the Master;
- absorb His merciful love;
- become like Him in loving and serving others.
Prayer dispels powerlessness and empowers us to become vessels of divine mercy.
–Kathleen Beckman (2015)
Saints renew the Church, not…
Many programs of catechesis and charitable works are necessary. Yet history reveals that saints, not programs, renew the Church. The universal call to holiness requires a contemplative foundation.
–Kathleen Beckman (2015)
Without Mary…
Without Mary’s cooperation with grace, we would not have the Divine Mercy. Mary not only gives us Jesus, but she also helps us to listen with our hearts, hear His voice, and receive His grace. Mary helps us rediscover God’s healing mercy…
- Mary’s faith helps to heal our unbelief.
- Mary’s humility helps to heal our pride.
- Mary’s receptivity helps to heal our resistance.
- Mary’s hope helps to heal our discouragement.
- Mary’s love helps to heal our brokenness.
- Mary’s mercy helps to heal our wounds.
- Mary’s courage helps us to slay our Goliaths.
–Kathleen Beckman (2015)
Go to Jesus…
Go to Jesus. He loves you and is waiting for you to give you many graces. He is on the altar surrounded by angels adoring and praying. Let them make some room for you and join them in doing what they do.
–Saint Mary Joseph Rosello (1811-1880)
The rosary is my…
The Rosary is my favorite prayer. A marvelous prayer! Marvelous in its simplicity and its depth. In the prayer we repeat many times the words that the Virgin Mary heard from the Archangel, and from her kinswoman Elizabeth.
–Saint John Paul (1920-2005)
Great things…
It is not necessary to have great things to do. I turn my little omelet in the pan for the love of God.
–Brother Lawrence (1614-1691)
Doing little things…
We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.
–Brother Lawrence (1614-1691)
Faith without love…
As memory of fire does not warm the body, so faith without love does not produce the light of knowledge in the soul.
–Saint Maximos the Confessor (580-662)
Aim at charity…
Aim at charity. By this path of love, Christ came down to us. By it, we too may ascend to Him.
–Saint Leo the Great (c. 400-461)
When prayer becomes…
When prayer becomes too self-centered, even if it is centered upon noble and holy desires, if the focus of our prayer is I, me, or my, we are going to be in difficulty.
–Armand M. Nigro, S.J. (1928-
Prayer means speaking…
For many of us prayer means nothing more than speaking with God. And since it usually seems to be a quite one-sided affair, prayer simply means talking to God. This idea is enough to create great frustrations. If I present a problem, I expect a solution; if I formulate a question, I expect an answer; if I ask for guidance, I expect a response. And when it seems, increasingly, that I am talking into the dark, it is not so strange that I soon begin to suspect that my dialogue with God is in fact a monologue. Then I may begin to ask myself: To whom am I really speaking, God or myself? The crisis of our prayer life is that our mind may be filled with ideas of God while our heart remains far from him.
–Henri Nouwen (1932-1996)
A hopeful outlook…
The essence of Christian spiritual combat is, with the strength of faith, to maintain a hopeful outlook on every situation, on ourselves, on other people, on the Church and the world. Such an outlook enables us to react to every situation by loving.
–Jacques Philippe (1947-
Our Lord is…
Our Lord is always ready to lift us up again when we fall, and he even finds a way to make our falls beneficial to us if after them we turn back to him with a humble, trusting heart.
–Jacques Philippe (1947-
One who does not pray…
Let him who does not pray expect nothing whatsoever from God — neither salvation nor renewal no direction nor grace. Rather, he is consigned to the whims and fancy of his own mind, the will of his own ego, and the direction of his own thinking. He is like one who has rejected the intervention of the Lord Jesus in his life, like one who hides himself from the Spirit of God. A man who does not pray is one who is content with his own condition. He wishes to remain as he is and not be changed, renewed or saved. His life unconsciously changes from bad to worse. He recedes spiritually day after day. The ties that bind him to the earth and to the flesh increase without his awareness. His ego remains the source of all his desires and ambitions.
–Matthew the Poor (1919-2006)
Our good Redeemer…
Our good Redeemer, by speedily granting what is asked, draws to His love those who are grateful. But He keeps ungrateful souls praying a long time before Him, hungering and thirsting for what they want, since a badly trained dog rushes off as soon as it is given bread and leaves the giver behind.
–Saint John Climacus (c. 525-606)
Absurd to argue into believing…
It is as absurd to argue men, as to torture them, into believing.
–Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
The sacrifice of great sufferings…
It is not God’s way that great blessings should descend without the sacrifice first of great sufferings. If the truth is to be spread to any wide extent among the people, how can we dream, how can we hope, that trial and trouble shall not accompany its going forth.
–Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Remain in God…
I advise you to remain simply either in God or close to God, without trying to do anything there, and without asking anything of Him, unless He urges it.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
The very devout…
Those who are simply upright men and women walk in the way of the Lord, but the devout run along it; and when they are very devout, they fly.
–Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Love is great…
Love is a great thing so long as it continually returns to its fountainhead, flows back to its source, always drawing from there the water which constantly replenishes it. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return; the sole purpose of his love is to be loved, in the knowledge that those who love him are made happy by their love of him.
–Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
Temples of the Holy Spirit…
Those whose hearts are pure are temples of the Holy Spirit.
–Saint Lucy (283-304)
Jesus in the
Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the most tender of friends with souls who seek to please Him. His goodness knows how to proportion itself to the smallest of His creatures as to the greatest of them. Be not afraid then in your solitary conversations, to tell Him of your miseries, your fears, your worries, of those who are dear to you, of your projects, and of your hopes. Do so with confidence and with an open heart.
–Saint Damien of Molokai (1840-1889)
Baptism in the Spirit…
Baptism in the Spirit is not a human invention; it is a divine invention. It is a renewal of baptism and of the whole of Christian life, of all the sacraments.
–Raniero Cantalamessa (1936-
Blessed Sacrament…
It is by staying still, in silence, and possibly for long periods, before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament that we perceive what He wants from us, put aside our own plans to make way for His, and let God’s light gradually penetrate the heart and heal it.
–Raniero Cantalamessa (1936-
Temptations are overcome by…
Temptations are overcome by three words: Credo! Spero! Amo! I believe, I hope, I love
–Blessed Anthony Grassi (1592–1671)
The word of God is inflamed…
The word of God is inflamed with the fire of the Holy Spirit. It consumes lives and promotes virtue.
–Saint Norbert (c. 1080-1134)
A talkative and restless person…
A talkative, over-curious, and restless person is like an oven which is open and exposed on all sides, and which keeps no heat; you will never enjoy the sweetness of a quiet prayer unless you shut your mind to all worldly desires and temporal affairs.
–Saint Norbert (c. 1080-1134)
How consoling the Eucharist…
How consoling is this mystery of the Eucharist! If we knew how to appreciate it, it would suffice to fortify and sustain us. Is there anything sweeter than to have a friend to whom we may at any hour confide our difficulties and our pain?
–Saint Theodore Guerin (1798-1856)
Live a godly life…
It is impossible for you to live a godly life if you are in love with pleasure and money.
— Isidore the Priest (a Desert Father)
Love to be silent…
Love to be silent rather than to speak; for silence saves up, but speaking fritters away.
–Isaiah (a Desert Father)
To experience God…
It is impossible for a man to experience the sweetness of God as long as he is experiencing the sweetness of the world. But if, on the other hand, he tastes the sweetness of God, he will hate the world.
–The Desert Fathers (and Mothers)
Keep this saying…
If you hate something, refrain from doing it to anybody else. Do you hate it when somebody speaks ill of you? Then speak no ill of any person. Do you hate it when somebody makes false accusations against you? Then do not accuse anybody falsely. Do you hate it if somebody sets you at naught or insults you or makes off with what is yours or [does] whatever is like that? Then do nothing of that sort to another. For the person who can keep this saying, it will suffice for his salvation.
–The Desert Fathers (and Mothers)
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